


life’s just far too short for miscommunication

by punkcowboy



Series: lgbt+ fics [5]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Also cake, Bday fic, Cake, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Miscommunication, happy birthday calum, lile baby angst, literally pure fluff, with a lil bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 03:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17542043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkcowboy/pseuds/punkcowboy
Summary: Luke disappears for the day and Calum worries.Coincidentally, Calum’s birthday is very soon. Hmmm.





	life’s just far too short for miscommunication

**Author's Note:**

> (title from ‘down to the market’ by the kooks)  
> happy birthday to calum thomas hood!! The summary sucks, but I really wanted to get this out today because it’s his biRTHDAY. Hope you enjoy and I’m glad you clicked on it despite my awful summary!
> 
> Rated T for: swearing

“Have you seen Luke today?”

Calum had been trying to get a hold of him for about two hours now, to no avail, and he was starting to get worried.

It wasn’t that he had to be close to him at all times- although that was always nice- it was just that they always made sure to tell each other where they were going when they went out. Maybe it was just how they were as a couple, maybe it was the whole “ _we’re pretty famous and there’s always the risk that we could ge removed whenever we leave the house.”_  Whatever the reason, they never failed to tell each other where they would be if they were to be gone for any longer than an hour or so.

This time, however, Luke didn’t.

It was reasonable to say, then, that Calum was worried.

It was also perfectly reasonable for him to have FaceTimed Ashton to ask if he’d seen him.

“For the fourth time, Cal, I haven’t seen Luke at all today.”

OK, so maybe four times was a _little_ excessive.

“I know, Ash, I’m sorry, I’m just-“

“Worried. Anxious. I know bro, it’s OK. I get it. I mean, you guys are the dream team for communication, so if one of you doesn’t talk then-“ upon seeing Cal’s face, Ash cut himself short. No point working him up even more. “I’m sure he’s fine dude. He probably just got caught up buying, I dunno, bread?”

“Bread.” Cal repeated skeptically. 

“Sure, I mean, have you seen all the choices you have? There’s white bread, wholegrain- which is definitely different to brown bread coz that shit’s just dyed- 50/50, wholemeal, I could go on! And then there’s like, d’you want it medium sliced or thin sliced? There are so. Many. Options.”

By this time, Cal was grinning widely.

“I mean, we _are_ out of bread...” he conceded, still smiling, “and if you put it that way, it sure does sound like a challenge.”

”Bread, man. _Bread_.” he stated seriously, sounding for all intents and purposes like a world-weary man who’d been searching fruitlessly all his life for the perfect bread product. Calum would not put it past Ashton for that to be a top priority of his.

“Thanks Ash, you’re the best. Sorry for bothering you so much over nothing.”

“No worries Cal-Pal, that’s what friends are for, eh? Anyway, you could never bother me.” Ash smiled, the sincerity with which he spoke warming Calum’s heart.

“Love you lots, man.”

“Love you too C-Dizzle.”

 _End_ _call._

____________

Another couple of hours passed and, although the call with Ashton had certainly left him grinning, it was long gone by now. The bread excuse was amusing, and maybe even a little bit plausible, but for four whole hours? Maybe even more- Cal wasn’t entirely sure when Luke had left- he’d just woken up and he was gone. No note, and no contact since.

Something was definitely wrong.

He had tried not to act pre-emptively, refraining from texting everyone in his contacts asking if they’d seen Luke. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Luke, he was just worried about him.

Maybe Luke just wanted some alone time. But again, he hadn’t _mentioned_ _it_.

Everything in their relationship had seemed to be going so well, but Calum found himself second-guessing everything he’d done recently, trying to figure out if he’d done something to make Luke leave. Maybe he had said something wrong last night, put his foot in his mouth, but for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything that could possibly have offended. And he was sure Luke would have told him if he had- he was never one to keep his mouth shut if something make him feel uncomfortable, or he felt something was unjust, and that was a quality Calum had always admired in him.

Maybe he was simply bored of him. Maybe, there was nothing he had done, rather something that he _wasn’t_ doing. Maybe he wasn’t exciting enough for Luke anymore. They’d been dating for a while now, maybe it was getting too domestic for him? Maybe he wanted something new. Maybe he-

 _Stop_ , _Cal_. _You’re_ _rabbit_ - _holing_.

Time to call Mikey.

Again.

__________

Michael picked up on the fourth ring.

“Hey Cally, my man! Love of my life, fire in my loins- what’s up?” Michael grinned at him, face far too close to the camera, and Calum felt himself instantly relax a little.

“Hey bro, I know I called earlier, but I was just wondering if Luke has talked to you yet? He still hasn’t texted or anything, and I’m getting worried.”

“Nah man, sorry. I haven’t heard from him.”

And. _Oh_. There it was. To anyone else, Michael would have sounded truly apologetic. However, Cal has known this man for as long as he could remember, and he could definitely tell when he was lying. Face so close to the camera, he could see the little flicker of guilt flash in Michael’s eyes as he spoke. Michael had looked off to the side when he mentioned Luke, and was now running his hand through his hair- both ticks that he had when he was nervous or, well. Lying.

Something was definitely going on, and Michael was in on it.

A feeling of relief washed through Calum. If Michael knew what was up with Luke, and hadn’t told him, it was OK- this hadn’t been Luke trying to break up with him. There hadn’t been some sort of horrible accident, or kidnapping, or god knows what. It meant that this was planned by the two of them- whatever ‘this’ may be. Whatever it was, Calum trusted both of them enough to know that there was a good reason for all the sneaking about. Feeling much happier than he had for hours, Calum finally grinned back.

“No worries Mikey! Cheers anyway.”

Michael smirked, and Calum heard a clatter from somewhere off camera, after which came a small shriek. A distinctly Luke sounding shriek. Calum only grinned wider.

Michael smiled widely, clearly trying not to laugh, and quickly shouted out, “OK love yougottago _byeeeee!”_ before hanging up.

__________

After confirming that everything was alright, Calum had gone out to lunch with Mitchy- after texting Luke about where he was going to be, in case he got back to find him gone. That little shit.

He arrived home to find Luke sitting on the porch.

As soon as Luke saw him, he jumped up from his daydream, and gave him a dazzling smile, making Calum go all soft and gooey.

“Calum!” he said, still beaming, and Calum couldn’t stop himself comparing him to a golden retriever puppy in that moment. _God_ damnit _his boyfriend was adorable. How rude._

“Hey Lukey, how are ya?” he pulled him in for a hug, kissing him quickly in greeting before pulling away to ask, “why are you out on the porch? You must be freezing!”

“I, uh, kinda maybe forgot my key?”

Luke mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, and Calum barked out a laugh.

“Goddamnit Luke, you should have _called_.” And, OK, maybe Calum was still a little salty, and put a bit more emphasis on that last word than necessary. Still. He had disappeared for nearly a whole day, Calum was entitled to be a bit pissed off about it (not that he was much good at being mad at Luke)

“Yea, probably,” he said, looking even more sheepish- if that was possible, “but I kind of didn’t have my phone either? I left them both in my bedside drawer, I dunno what happened I just-“

“Forgot. Enough said Luke, I’m just glad you’re alright.” And he meant it. Seeing Luke safe and sound- if a little colder than normal- was all he needed for the last of his anger to melt away.

Unlocking the door, he grabbed Luke’s hand and pulled him into the house.

__________

Luke’s vaguely sketchy disappearance, and his and Michael’s plotting, didn’t come up again for two more days.

It just so happened that it was on Calum’s birthday that all the pieces finally came together.

__________

In all honesty, Calum had forgotten his birthday was so soon. Without school or touring to help him keep track of dates, time just kind of slipped by for him. So it really was a surprise to be woken up by Luke bouncing on their bed, singing “Happy Birthday” at the top of his lungs.

Calum groaned. It was far too early to start regretting all his life choices, though, so he simply sat up and glared at his overexcited boyfriend.

Luke just grinned and kissed him gently. Calum melted into it, not caring about either of their morning breath, choosing to deepen the kiss rather than settle for the quick peck they usually went for when they’ve just woken up. It was his birthday, after all.

When they eventually pulled away, they were both a little out of breath. Luke, both panting and looking a little dazed, turned to look him in the eyes.

“I made breakfast.”

Calum giggled, before saying, “Please tell me you didn’t burn the porridge this time.”

“How dare you!” Luke said, mock offended, “If you don’t want it, I’ll just have it all myself.” He smiled a little. “Besides, I didn’t actually cook anything. Wasn’t going to even attempt that, don’t want to start a fire on your birthday. It’s just some shop bought pancakes and fruit n stuff, and I was about to make some coffee.”

Calum grinned lazily, heart full of love for the man in front of him.

“That sounds perfect babe. Thank you.”

Luke grinned back easily. “Anything for you birthday boy!” he said, kissing him sloppily before leaping up and running through to the kitchen, this time singing “He’s A Jolly Good Fellow”.

 _If_ _this is what the whole day is going to be like,_ Calum thought, _then this will be the best birthday ever._

__________

After breakfast, Ash and Mikey showed up bearing gifts. Family and friends would be showing up for a proper party later on, but for now it was just the four of them.

Luke answered the door, and before they came in properly Cal was sure he saw Mikey give some kind of- _was_ _that_ _a_ _tin_?- to him before Luke slipped away towards the kitchen, but he couldn’t be sure because as soon as they were in the door he was being tackled into a hug, and all his concentration went into trying not to fall over.

Unfortunately, it was not enough, and he quickly found himself on the floor with his two idiotic best friends lying on top of him, yelling like maniacs. When Luke rejoined them, he was no help, instead opting to join the heap. Soon, the four of them were laughing their asses off on the ground in pure childlike joy.

After eventually untangling themselves, they relocated to the living room for Cal to open gifts. Luke has already given him his- a new notebook with his name and a moon engraved on the front, a new guitar strap, and a pack of blue body glitter. Calum loved them all.

From Ash, he got a record player and a ‘ _Dark_ _Side_ _Of_ _The_ _Moon_ ’ vinyl to go with it- which, _hell_ _yea_ , he’d been wanting a record player for ages but had never gotten around to it. From Mikey, he got what looked like a. Hand-knitted something or other. Looking up at him quizzically, he explained. 

“Knitted sweater for two. Thought you and Luke could try it out.”

 Cal made an unseemly noise of amusement. He really adored his friends.

Luke’s knee had been bouncing the entire time Calum was unwrapping gifts, and so Calum turned to him, giving him a warm smile. He just wanted him to relax.

“I’ll go make some lunch, and then we can-“

“No!” Luke exclaimed, clearly panicked.

Calum was a little surprised by the outburst, but sat patiently waiting to an explanation. Could this be to do with that big tin- thing he saw earlier? And why Luke disappear-

Luke coughed.

“I meant, that, uh, well you see I don’t want. You can’t-“

“What he means, is that he doesn’t want you doing work on your birthday, ain’t that right Lukey?” Michael interrupted, and Luke visibly calmed down.

“Yup, that’s it. I’ll go and make lunch, you should relax!” Luke said, jumping on the excuse.

Yeah, definitely about their little secret.

Ash still looked confused- he obviously wasn’t in on their strange charade- but Calum just chuckled a little and nodded in agreement.

“Alright Luke, if you’re sure. Shout if you need me, yea?”

“Course babe, see you in a couple minutes.” A quick kiss, and Luke was gone.

Cal set up the record player and put the new vinyl on as background noise as he talked with the others.

Luke came back after a while with a tray with four bowls of pasta- green pesto, Calum’s favourite. Grinning, he dove in.

The bowls were all empty within minutes. Few words spoken as they ate, all four favouring to just sit and enjoy each other’s company. Besides, nothing really needed to be said.

Luke took the bowls back to the kitchen.

Calum was content. He was here with his three best friends, feeling full- of food, obviously, but also full of love for the people around him. He was happy he got to spend the day with the idiots he had spent the majority of his life with, who he’d watched grow from boys into the men he saw before him today. Nothing could make him happier than knowing that he’d been as much a part of their journeys as they’d been of his.

He saw Michael whispering something to Ash, but before he could question it, the lights went out.

Enter, Luke.

The kitchen door opened, and in he came, carrying a tray with the tallest cake Calum had ever seen.

The three of them started singing Happy Birthday, and as they sang Michael got up to help Luke with the tray as he looked to be struggling. Calum was still slightly shell-shocked as they set it down on the table in front of him, letting him get a good look at it.

It was massive, for a start. On the top was messily written ‘Happy Birthday Calum!!!!!!!!!’ in bright purple icing, surrounded by candles. The whole cake was covered in white fondant, with sparkly purple polka dots on the sides.

Calum didn’t know what to say, so he said the first thing that came to his head.

“So it wasn’t bread.”

Ashton snickered. Luke and Michael, unsurprisingly, just looked confused but to their credit, didn’t question it. He turned to Luke.

“How did you even- did you bake this yourself?” Luke nodded, “Holy shit, that’s. That’s insane.”

Luke grinned. “Good insane?”

“Good insane, definitely good. I’m guessing this is why you disappeared a couple days ago though?”

Luke grimaced a little, “yea, uh, sorry about that, I really wanted it to be a surprise so I couldn’t bake it here and I didn’t want to lie to you. So I just kinda didn’t say, um. Anything? Sorry, I know I should’ve-“

Calum stopped him. “Luke, it’s fine. Better than fine actually. You and Mikey’s plotting definitely paid off, this is awesome!”

“Hey! How’d you know I helped him?”

Calum raised an eyebrow at Michael, who grinned, “Alright, fair enough.”

“OK, so we’re not great at surprises, just blow out the candles!” Calum laughed at Luke’s impatience, but obliged.

Luke ran to turn the lights back on, and Calum blinked a couple of times to re-adjust his eyes as Luke sprinted back over and lifted all the now blown out candles from the cake. Michael pulled out his phone and started recording, making Calum feel vaguely suspicious.

“OK, OK, now cut it!” Luke near enough shouted, handing Calum a knife. Not a good idea, considering he was still chuckling. Dangerous things, knives- not to be handled whilst laughing your ass off.

Still, Calum cut the cake, slicing out a wedge. As he pulled it out, knife at the bottom and hand on top to keep it steady, he stopped dead upon seeing the inside of the cake.

It was a goddamn _rainbow_.

Seven layers of cake- purple on the bottom, leading up to red on the top, with layers of white buttercream in between each. Every layer was bright and distinct, none of the colours looking pale or bleeding into each other. It really was gorgeous. Who knew cake could be so stunning?

Putting the slice onto the plate Luke was offering, he finally spoke.

“That.” he said, slowly, deliberately, “is so. Fucking. Gay.”

Michael burst out laughing, and Ashton fell back onto the sofa, giggling uncontrollably. Calum turned to Luke, grinning widely.

“I love it. I love you. Thank you so much. I-“ he stopped, unsure of how to put how he felt into words. Instead of trying anymore, he opted to pull Luke in for a kiss. Actions speak louder than words, after all. Or something like that anyway.

This was definitely the best birthday ever.


End file.
